This invention relates to a method of making cheese products, and in particular, to a method of producing cheeses in large quantities.
Due to increased consumption of natural cheese in the United States, natural cheese manufacturers continue to find a ready market for different varieties of cheese. With improvements in communication the market place has improved access to the individual manufacturers of different cheese varieties. This process has steadily eroded the ability of cheese processors (companies manufacturing pasteurized process and cold pack cheese from natural cheese) to procure large quantities of consistent quality natural cheese at reasonable prices.
This same change has resulted in increasing availability of so called "trim" which is the residue of cutting large pieces of cheese into retail portions. Unfortunately, cheese for cutting is usually produced at the legal maximum moisture content. Because of this, trim may have an aged flavor as well as contribute too much moisture to the eventual process cheese. In order to make a suitable process cheese the processor must procure so called "barrel" cheese, or american cheese with a low moisture content (usually 36%) to blend with available trim. Because of the low moisture content, barrel cheese does not rapidly age. The result is a very bland flavored, strong bodied cheese. It also allows the processor to meet moisture specifications required by federal and state laws. Because of the low moisture content of barrel cheese, yields are low. Since the processor must make a profit margin, prices paid must also be low. In years gone by this difference was offset by the reduced labor necessary to package the cheese in barrels and low sales cost (i.e., selling a large proportion of merchandise to a few large customers.) However, with the increase in factory automation the packaging advantages have been reduced and improved communication has made it possible for small remote factories to merchandise their wares in far away urban areas very effectively.
The result of these changes has been a significant decline in the number of companies willing to produce barrel cheese. This, of course, leads to increased competition for available supplies and significantly higher cost for process cheese manufacturers. On the other side of the picture the decline of available barrel cheese for blending has held back the amounts of trim that can be utilized resulting in lower trim prices to natural cheese manufactures.